Clean Energy Wire

German power grid operator Amprion and gas grid operator Open Grid Europe (OGE) are planning to build a 100 megawatt (MW) power-to-gas plant along with hydrogen infrastructure, a project they have dubbed “hybridge”. "We have now progressed to a stage where we can start the planning approval process for hybridge," said OGE management board member Thomas Hüwener at a Berlin press conference. "But we still need the go-ahead from political decision-makers."

The companies said the project - in which renewable electricity will be used to make hydrogen and green methane via an electrolyser – will cost around 150 million euros and would be the first power-to-gas plant of this size.

"Germany’s climate targets, the nuclear phase-out and the looming coal phase-out pose an enormous challenge for our energy system. We must therefore act now to create the prerequisites for power-to-gas to be available on a gigawatt scale after 2030 and for sector coupling to be possible at system level," said Amprion Chief Technical Officer Klaus Kleinekorte according to a press release. “If we get the go-ahead now, the plant can go into operation as early as 2023," he added.